


It's An Out of Date Tradition For Lonely People To Fake Love

by FayeHunter



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Mutual Pining, big shocker, but theyre in love, fake dating!, family christmas!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeHunter/pseuds/FayeHunter
Summary: Michael didn't plan to spend his Christmas meeting Luke's family while pretending to date Luke. Too bad he's hopelessly in love with Luke. The course of true love never did run smooth
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	It's An Out of Date Tradition For Lonely People To Fake Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HeyHeyArnold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyHeyArnold/gifts).



> This is part of the Club's fic exchange for the holiday season. This is for Brooke , who requested Muke and anything fluffy and cute!! I hope you enjoy some fake dating Muke because boy did I enjoy writing this! Thanks to [Amanda](https://lifewasradical.tumblr.com/) for reading this and screaming in the docs at me.
> 
> Title from Kissletoe by 3oh!3 (do we expect anything less)

Michael should really have seen the trouble coming the moment Luke threw open the dorm door and wailed, “I’ve ruined everything, this is a disaster!” 

It’s 2 weeks before the semester ends, and Michael’s resigned himself to a boring holiday break. Considering he’s living in New York and he’s from Australia, it’s too expensive for him to fly back home for a month. He’s supposed to spend the holiday sleeping on Ashton’s couch, a fellow displaced Australian, watching terrible movies and eating take out while the two of them commiserate being too poor to fly home to see their families. It helps that the older boy has an apartment off campus, so if Michael has to be miserable, at least he doesn’t have to deal with college food.

The only downside of it all is that Michael won’t have Luke to spend the holiday with. Luke’s been Michael’s roommate since first year, a clear attempt on the school’s part to put the only two incoming Australian students together. There’d been Calum, but since he was on a scholarship for football, Luke and Michael had ended up together. It’d been a rocky start of the two of them learning to live together, Michael an only child and Luke the youngest, learning to share their space with another person. They’d finally managed to find common ground in music and now Michael can’t imagine living without the other young man. So much so that when it had been time to reapply to be roommates for second year, they’d immediately picked to live with one another again (even if Luke complained that Michael stayed up too late every night and Michael complained that Luke kept too many hair products in the bathroom). 

“What’s the matter?” Michael asks, turning his attention away from the  _ Thor _ movie on the TV that he’s watching instead of studying for finals. Luke takes the question as an invitation to cross the room and flop down next to Michael, burying his face in Michael’s lap. Michael runs his fingers through Luke’s curls. Luke’s been recently growing his hair out and the change is nice, soft blonde curls framing his face.

“You know how my parents are coming here for the break? And that they wanted to go more upstate and get a cabin and stuff?”

“Yeah?”

“I may have told them I had a boyfriend. And they may have just phoned me and asked if the boyfriend wanted to come with us.”

“Can’t you just say the boyfriend is going home for the holidays and can’t make it? Or that the relationship is too new for that?”

“I told them the boyfriend was you.”

Michael stops playing with Luke’s curls, staring down at the boy in his lap. Luke whines at the loss of contact, turning to stare up at Michael, doe eyed and sad. 

“Why did you tell them it was me?”

“I panicked and you were the first person I could think.”

“But we’ve lived together for almost two years now. Wouldn’t it be suspicious for us to have suddenly started dating?”

“I told them it was new. That the two years together finally helped us realize we were in love. I said we started dating on your birthday.”

“What made you say that?”

“It was the closest date I could think of,” Luke mumbles. He lays his head back in Michael’s lap and lets out a heavy sigh. Michael giggles, running his fingers through Luke’s hair.

“How is this my problem?”

“I told them you were alone for the holidays. So they’re going to expect you to come with me or otherwise they’ll spend the whole holiday thinking I’m a terrible boyfriend for not bringing you.”

Michael hums, turning his attention back to the TV. It’s a bad idea to agree to this idea. Michael, predictably enough, has a crush on Luke. He’s had a crush on Luke since he walked into their dorm the first day of college, wide eyed and terrified, clutching his box of things and asking if Michael was his roommate. It’s half the reason Michael thinks they didn’t get along at first, Michael’s tiny crush on the pretty singer bleeding through into his actions and then his anger coming out in an attempt to mask the crush. He doesn’t want Luke to know about his crush. It’ll ruin their friendship he’s sure, if Luke knows he likes him. Luke is sweet and pretty and popular with everyone he meets. Michael is shy and angry and probably a little too passionate and loud about things. He’s overwhelming to be around and he keeps waiting for the day Luke realizes this and leaves him. Even if Luke is a bed stealer and a blanket hogger and can’t cook to save his life, Michael adores him so much and he doesn’t dare to hope what it means that Luke told his family they were dating other than that he panicked and picked the first person he could think of.

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

“Come with me? Please?” Luke says, rolling over, looking up at Michael, pleading blue eyes. Michael sighs and bops Luke on his cute, ski slope of a nose.

“What’s in it for me?”

“Free vacation? Good food? An actual bed? All you have to do is pretend to be in love with me.”

“A bed? But you steal all the covers anyway. Maybe I’ll break up with you for that.”

Luke scoffs, “Not if I break up with you for keeping me up till 2:00am playing video games.”

“Hey! I don’t hear you complaining when you’re playing Kingdom Hearts with me!” Michael says, smacking Luke’s shoulder lightly. Luke huffs and they lapse into silence, Luke picking at the bottom of his shirt.

“Please Michael? It’ll be more bearable with you,” Luke whispers. 

Michael swallows. On one hand, it sounds nice getting to spend a holiday with a family, seeing snow, enjoying whatever it is that you do on holidays in Upstate New York. On the other hand, Michael doesn’t know if his heart can survive “pretending” to be in love with Luke without giving himself away.

He sighs, pretending to be extremely put out, “Fine, I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend.”

Luke squeals, sitting upright to throw his arms around Michael in a hug, “Oh thank you Mikey! You’re the best friend ever.”

Michael stiffens, putting his arms tentatively around Luke and leaning into the hug. This is going to be a mess, he can already tell. God, Calum’s going to make fun of him forever.

***

“You know, there’s dumb and then there’s  _ you dumb _ ,” Calum says. Michael can’t see Calum through the speaker of the phone, but the upward lilt in his voice tells Michael he’s laughing at him. Michael scowls at the phone, throwing another sweater into his suitcase.

“Fuck you. It’s not even my fault. Luke started it by saying we were dating.”

“Yeah, but you agreed to it. So your fault too. You and your dumb crush,” Calum says, barely stifling his laugh.

“Well, what about you? How come now instead of staying with Mali, you’re going to stay with Ashton? Who, might I remind you, you have a crush on.”

“Hey! I told you that in confidence while drunk! And it’s because Mali’s going to her girlfriend’s for Christmas now and you abandoned Ashton for your  _ boyfriend _ ,” Calum says, fully laughing this time.

“Whatever. Just don’t fuck Ashton on the couch if you decide to do a Christmas strip tease. I want to be able to come over and sit on it again.”

“Fuck off. Have fun making out with Luke in front of his parents,” Calum says, hanging up as Michael tries to loudly protest that Calum is wrong. Micheal grumbles, throwing his clothing into his suitcase, not bothering to try and fold it neatly. It doesn’t have to look nice, it just has to get where he’s going. 

“Michael, are you almost done?” Luke says, barging into Michael’s room without knocking. It used to bother Michael, that Luke didn’t seem to care about personal space, dropping onto Michael’s lap whenever he’s sitting on the couch or falling into Michael’s bed to cuddle him and sleep whenever it’s finals week or he’s having a bad day. Now, Michael finds it charming and cute, that Luke likes to be close to Michael. Plus, Michael’s not going to complain if Luke happens to want to curl up on his lap and take a nap.

“Luke, it’s been two years. Learn to knock, you don’t know what I could be doing in here.”

“I have 2 older brothers. I do in fact know what you could be doing in here, but I also know you’re supposed to be packing. If you were doing anything but that, I would have to murder you because we’re already running late,” Luke says plopping down on the edge of Michael’s bed and looking up at him. Michael huffs, turning back to his suitcase and frowning. He’s never going to be able to fit everything into it, no matter how hard he tries. It’s why he’s running behind, packing and unpacking the damn bag. 

Luke follows Michael’s gaze, letting out a distressed sound when he realizes what Michael’s doing. 

“You’re gonna wrinkle it all, Mikey. Let me help,” Luke says, shooing Michael away from his suitcase. He takes each piece of clothing out, one by one, laying them all flat on the bed, smoothing out the wrinkles. He starts to fold them up, precise and accurate. It reminds Michael of something his mother would do, suddenly filling him with a sense of homesickness and heartache that he won’t be able to spend the holidays with his own family. Even if they’re lying to Luke’s parents, it’s nice, getting to spend the holidays with someone else. He doesn’t mind spending time with Ashton, but being with someone’s family is nice. Plus, he figures Luke’s family will have good material for Michael to use as teasing or blackmail till at least when they graduate. 

“What are you doing?” Michael asks, watching Luke lay each piece of clothing into the suitcase again, flat and stacked, fitting everything perfectly into it. 

“Organizational system. My mom taught me how to do it when I was younger. It’s the perfect way to pack everything without wrinkles and still fitting it all in there,” Luke says, continuing on his quest to fix Michael’s suitcase. Michael watches him quietly, the determination in Luke’s movements as he pushes Michael’s shirts down in the suitcase, clearly trying to fit everything in, frowning.

“Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you not have a scarf?”

“No? I had one but it got ruined last week with coffee and I haven’t had the chance to get a new one.”

“I’ll have to let you borrow one of mine. My mom will never forgive me if I let you walk around without a scarf. What kind of boyfriend forgets to give you a scarf?” Luke mumbles, half to himself, half loud enough that Michael can hear him. He goes a little red, flushing at the casual way Luke says it. It feels so natural like that, Luke commenting on their relationship, that Michael allows himself to get caught up thinking about it. What it would be like to grab Luke right now, pull him in for a kiss, get him to drop the pair of socks he’s currently holding, and run his hands under Luke’s shirt, steal his warmth. He knows Luke enjoys soft touches, likes having people close to. He’d like to be able to touch Luke always, hold his hand, kiss his cheek, steal Luke’s clothing so everyone knows that Luke’s his boyfriend. For now, Michael settles on wrapping his arms around Luke’s waist and hooking his chin over Luke’s shoulder, watching him continue to fix Michael’s suitcase.

“What would I do without you?”

“You’d have wrinkled shirts and a cold neck,” Luke answers, easy and smooth. Michael presses a kiss to Luke’s cheek without thinking, enjoying how red Luke turns at the kiss. Luke coughs slightly, nodding at Michael’s suitcase. He zips it up, detangling himself from Michael’s hold and facing him.

“Okay, I think I’ve managed to get your suitcase under control. We should leave now so we can avoid traffic and the weather and still make it for dinner with my family otherwise my mom will start to worry and you don’t want to deal with Liz Hemmings when she’s upset.”

Michael snorts, but decides to take Luke’s word for it. Michael’s been at the receiving end of his own worried mother and considering that Luke’s the baby of the family, he’s sure that it’d be even worse. It hasn’t quite started snowing yet in the City, but Michael knows it could start at any moment and he doesn’t want to get caught driving in it. 

Luke’s already going through the dorm, shutting off all their lights, checking the stove to make sure it’s turned off, giving the apartment one last look before they leave for a few weeks. It’s charming, watching Luke fret over every last detail in the place, trying to check the knobs  _ one last time Mikey, _ while shoving his arms through his burgundy coat sleeves.

“Luke, relax. You’ve checked everything like five times. It’s fine. The place won’t burn down while we’re gone,” Michael says, grabbing Luke’s beanie from the counter and shoving it onto Luke’s head, laughing as Luke huffs, adjusting his curls under it. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. You’re the most detail oriented person I know. Who else would choose to do so much math if they weren’t so detailed?”

“I just like math,” Luke mumbles, blushing red as he grabs his scarf from on top of his suitcase, wrapping it around Michael’s neck, fussing over that until Michael bats his hands away, loosening the knot Luke’s created. Luke pats himself down, looking for his keys and trying to open the door at the same time. Michael rolls his eyes, grabbing both their suitcases and following Luke out of the apartment and down the stairs to the parking garage where Luke’s car is. 

Since Luke is driving them, Michael has been left in charge of the playlist and he’s excited to show Luke what he’s picked. They share a similar taste in pop-punk music, but Michael’s got some other songs on there that he thinks Luke will like. Michael likes sharing music with Luke, like hearing what Luke thinks about the things Michael shares and the idea of a few hour car ride where he can get Luke’s immediate opinion on the songs makes Michael happy. One of his Christmas gifts to Luke is a burned mixtape CD of songs he thinks Luke will like. The playlist is longer, since his phone holds more music, but the CD is a carefully curated list of special songs that remind him of Luke (if he’s titled the playlist “Michael and Luke’s Love Language,” well that’s for only Michael and the government man mining his data to know).

Luke gets the car started, turning the heat on and warming it up, while Michael gets the suitcases into the trunk before sliding into the passenger seat. He hooks his phone up, setting the playlist up to start and letting the opening notes of “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down” by Fall Out Boy start, watching the corner of Luke’s lips lift up in a smile as he puts the car into reverse and leaves the parking garage. Michael leans back in the seat, closing his eyes and tapping his fingers along to the beat as the song flows into the next, enjoying just being with Luke in the car, getting to relax as they drive out of the City and start upstate.

They eventually stop at a local Dunkin’ off the interstate when they finally get far enough away for the traffic to thin out a little and there to be actual parking lots and not parallel parking and overpriced garages. Michael leaves Luke in the car to get them their order (gingerbread latte for Luke, vanilla chai for himself, and a box of munchkins) and check in with Calum and Ashton to see how they’re settling in. Michael glances through the window, sees Luke talking through the glass, waving his hands around in the way that means Luke’s clearly talking to Liz. Michael knows Luke well enough to recognize what he looks like when he’s talking to his mom, even if he can’t hear them. It makes Michael’s own heart ache for his mom, that he won’t get to spend the holidays with his family. It’s sweet that the Hemmings would offer to let him intrude on their quality time with Luke. He knows it’s cause they think he and Luke are dating, but it’s still nice. Not many people would offer their son’s new boyfriend a place to spend the holidays.

Michael grabs their order, heading back out to the car. Michael pops the door open in time to hear Luke saying, “Look Mom, I have to go. Michael’s just gotten back. Yes, I’ll tell him you said hello. Yes, I’ll ask him what his favorite cookie is. Bye Mom.  _ Bye Mom _ .”

Luke rolls his eyes good-naturedly, a fond, exasperated smile on his face as he hangs up. He makes grabby hands for his drink, smiling when Michael hands it over, taking a sip.

“Snickerdoodle,” Michael says, climbing into the car and shutting the door, sticking his hands in front of the vents to warm them back up. 

“Hm?” 

“My favorite cookie. Your mom asked.”

“Oh! Right, yes that. Ready?” Luke says, blushing as he takes a sip of his latte. Michael nods, opening the munchkin box and holding it out to Luke as he leaves the parking space. Luke reaches out, grabbing a jelly one and smiling as he pops it into this mouth. Michael smiles, grabbing a chocolate and eating it, putting his playlist back on. They drive in comfortable silence, Michael tapping a beat out on the center console, hand just barely brushing Luke’s where it’s resting on his thigh.

“We should...we should talk about our timeline.”

“Timeline?”

“Of dating. Since we’ve been dating for a bit, we should sort out our timeline. So we don’t get confused about things. I know my parents will ask questions and my brothers will probably harass you the whole time. So we should get the story straight,” Luke says in a rush, eyes not leaving the road the whole time. 

“Right, our story. Our story about us dating. Uh, fake dating. You mentioned it, so it seems like you have a timeline. What’s the timeline?” Michael says. Luke nods again, oddly stiff.

“We started dating in September. After we started back at school. I worked up the courage to tell you about my crush after you came back from class one day. I was playing my guitar for you and I asked you out on a date once I finished the song. We went out to that pizza place around the corner and then you bought me hot chocolate from that little chocolate shop. We kissed at our front door because even though we live together, I wanted to kiss you at the door. We have a date night every Thursday because you don’t have classes on Fridays and I don’t go in till the afternoon. We’re thinking about getting a place off campus next year because we want to be somewhere more private with an actual kitchen so we can learn to cook real food,” Luke says. Michael smiles. He remembers the night Luke’s talking about. He’d come back to class to Luke playing “I Must Be Dreaming” by The Maine on his acoustic guitar, humming along. He’d looked up when Michael had come, staring for a minute too long and Michael had thought Luke wanted to say something, but instead he’d asked if Michael wanted to get pizza. They’d gotten hot chocolate on the way back and spent the night on their couch, watching Harry Potter movies on their TV and yelling at the movies. Michael doesn’t know what made Luke choose that day for their fake anniversary, but it’s a nice memory. He’s happy to let it be their anniversary.

Michael reaches over, lacing his fingers through Luke’s and squeezes Luke’s hand. Luke startles a little, jumping at the contact.

“That’s cute. Gotta get used to me touching you, babe. Since we’re dating and all.”

“You menace, you touch me all the time. Your hands are just cold,” Luke mumbles. He doesn’t pull his hand back though and Michael is filled with warmth, holding Luke’s hand like this as they continue in silence on their drive, soft music playing in the background. 

“Why September?”

“What do you mean?” 

“Why’d you tell them we’ve been dating since September?” 

“Because I didn’t want anyone to think we were rushing into things if I said any sooner.” 

“We’ve known each other for 2 years now though. No one would think we were rushing into things.” 

“I...tend to get crushes easily and Jack and Ben tease me about it all the time. I wanted them to know I was sure about you coming for the holidays. That I was sure about us,” Luke says, glancing at Michael when he says it. Michael hums. He’s worried about this whole thing. Having to pretend to be in love with Luke while actually being in love with Luke is tricky. There’s a fine line between what Michael can do without it coming across as  _ too real  _ to Luke. Michael knows he has to play it up for the family, but Luke will know if something’s up. 

Michael hums back, deciding not to push the issue. It’s still strange that he would give their relationship an almost 3 month timeline, when earlier he made it seem as if they’d only just started dating after Michael’s birthday, to distract Liz. Michael knows better than to push Luke on certain things and he seems stressed enough as it is without Michael poking holes in a decent plan. 

“I’m gonna try to nap. Wake me up when you wanna switch driving,” Michael says, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the seat. It isn’t until he’s started drifting off that he realizes he’s still holding Luke’s hand, Luke rubbing his thumb over the back of Michael’s. 

Michael wakes up some time later, groggy and out of focus, to Luke turning the engine of the car off. He realizes they’re in the parking lot of a McDonald’s. Michael looks at the dashboard clock, realizing that it’s right around lunchtime and that he’s hungry.

“Come on, I want some fries,” Luke says, opening the door and stepping out. Michael follows suit, still half asleep and trying to feel more human as he follows Luke into the restaurant. Luke’s already at the counter, ordering his usual chicken sandwich and Sprite and Michael’s chicken nuggets and Coke. Michael comes up behind Luke as he orders, dropping his head to Luke’s shoulder and whining slightly. Luke pats Michael’s arm absentmindedly as he pays for their food, grabbing the number, and tugging Michael to a spare table. It’s surprisingly empty but Michael chalks that up to it being more upstate than anything else. 

“Tell me about your family. Well, tell me more about them then I already know. You’ve given me the basics over the last year.”

“What do you want to know?” Luke says, eyes focused on the pick up counter. 

“Well I think I should know  _ something _ about them. You’ve told me vague things in the past, but I feel like I should know more considering we’re dating.”

Luke frowns, “I’m not sure what you want to know that you already don’t. My mum’s a maths teacher and my dad and brothers all do construction. Everyone surfs except me because I fall on my face all the time. I’m a terrible Aussie. This is the first time they’ve come to America to see me since I moved in last year. We used to come here when I was younger, but it’s been ages.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t tell me anything about them. Like who are they.”

Luke shrugs, “I don’t know, they’re my family. My parents always encouraged me to do art, even if it sounded impractical. They always wanted me to be happy first. Sound engineering was a happy medium between music and a ‘real job’,” Luke says in air quotes, smiling when Michael laughs at him. The lady at the counter calls their number, pulling Luke away from the convo and over to pick the bags up. He comes back, handing Michael his chicken nuggets and going about opening up his own bag, pulling out his sandwich and fries. Michael takes a bite of his own fries, huffing in outrage when he realizes they’re soggy and a little cold.

“What?” Luke says, around a mouthful of sandwich, blushing when he realizes what he’s doing. Michael chuckles at how cute he is, cheeks stuffed and trying to cover his mouth.

“The fries. Usually they should be hot and crispy, but this isn’t. This is a bad fry, look at it. It’s all floppy,” Michael says, wiggling it around. Luke laughs loudly, covering his mouth when the other people look at them. Michael’s upset about the state of his fries. It’s the one reason he likes coming to McDonald’s and now he doesn’t even have that.

“Oh, stop being a baby,” Luke says, rolling his eyes and sliding his own fries over to the middle of the table. Michael perks up, reaching for one of those fries, lighting when he realizes it’s the perfect level of crispy. 

“Thanks,” Michael says.

“Just don’t eat them all. We are sharing,” Luke says seriously, pointing a fry at Michael. Michael nods solemnly, face breaking into a smile when he sees Luke giggle. They finish their food in silence, cleaning up and heading out to the car.

“Your turn,” Luke says, tossing the keys to Michael and standing expectantly next to the passenger door. Michael rolls his eyes, but unlocks the doors and gets in. He fiddles around, setting up his music, adjusting the seat and mirror, before he starts driving, letting Luke guide him back to the interstate. They continue on the second half of their trip in comfortable silence, Luke humming along to the songs he knows, asking Michael about the ones he doesn’t. It’s nice, comfortable getting to spend the time with Luke. He’s felt disconnected from him in the recent weeks with finals and it’s nice to feel like they’re back together again. 

They finish the rest of the drive easily enough, Luke bouncing up and down in the seat the closer they get to the cabin, calling out directions. They’ve barely parked the car before Luke throws himself out the door, running up the driveway to where a blonde woman who can only be Luke’s mother is standing. She smiles, throwing her arms open wide and letting Luke practically jump into them, laughing wildly with glee. Michael leaves the car much slower, apprehensive to intrude on this mother/son moment. 

“You must be Michael. I’m Liz,” She says, sticking her hand out, smiling at him. Michael smiles back, taking her hand and shaking it. He’s a little startled when she pulls him into a hug, but it’s easy to lean into it and allow her to squeeze him. Tentatively, Michael squeezes her back, swallowing down his own sadness at missing the holidays with his mum. He can see Luke’s face out of the corner of his eye, face full of relief and fondness at the two of them.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Luke talks about you all the time. He never shuts up about how amazing you are,” Liz says when she pulls back. Michael falters, feeling bad about the fact that Luke’s probably talked about Michael like they’re boyfriends and that whatever Liz knows is, at best, a half lie. There’s no way Luke talks about how terrible Michael’s sleep schedule is or how for a solid month of first year, they could barely stand to look at each other after Michael dyed Luke’s hair pink in a prank gone wrong. 

“It was very nice of you to invite me on your trip. You really didn’t have to let me intrude on your holiday,” Michael says, blushing when Luke comes over, interlacing his fingers with Michael’s and smiling at Liz.

Liz waves it away, leading them both back inside, “Anything for you. Luke speaks so highly of you, we couldn’t wait to meet his boyfriend.”

Michael’s glad she’s not facing him when he flinches visibly at the term. Luke smacks him lightly on the arm, panic in his face. Micheal eases it with a smile, leaning over to kiss Luke on the cheek when Liz turns back to them. Luke goes pink at the kiss, getting even redder when Liz smiles knowingly at them.

“I’ll show you to your room. You’ll have to share a bathroom with Jack and Ben, but I’m sure you’re both used to that by now at school. No funny business while you’re here,” She chides, laughing when Luke whines out a  _ Mum _ , face getting even redder. She leads up to a second floor of the cabin, down the hall to the last door on the right. It’s a nice room, big, with one bed. Michael’s never been more confronted with the realization of the lie they’re telling Luke’s family than he is right now, realizing that he’ll have to share a bed with Luke because they’re  _ dating _ . 

“I’ll let you two unpack and get settled. You’re just in time for dinner, so come down whenever,” Liz says, pressing a kiss to Luke’s temple as she leaves the room. 

Luke turns to Michael still red in the face, “I didn’t think she’d give us one bed.”

“You told her we were dating. What did you expect? Just don’t steal all the covers,” Michael says, rolling his eyes and opening his suitcase. Luke scoffs, half offended at the truth in the statement and mimics what Michael’s doing. 

They unpack most of their clothing before they get bored and give up, deciding to go down for dinner. Michael tries to tamper down the excitement and warmth that builds in his chest at seeing their clothing hanging up next to each other in the closet. If Michael closes his eyes, he can pretend that this is all real, that if he leans over right now and kisses Luke, Luke will kiss him back and hold his hand and be his  _ boyfriend _ .

Michael doesn’t though, instead taking Luke’s hand and following him back down the hall and stairs to where he can hear everyone in the kitchen getting ready. 

It’s loud and overwhelming when they walk in. Both of Luke’s brothers are shouting, both of their parents laughing. Michael knows it’s all in good natured fun, but he’s an only child. This is  _ a lot.  _

“Luke,” one of them shouts when he sees them, rushing over to pull Luke into some kind of hug style headlock, his other brother coming over to join, despite Luke’s protests of being too old for this now. It doesn’t seem to have stopped either brother from terrorizing Luke.

“Alright, alright that’s enough. Don’t scare Luke’s guest,” Luke’s dad says, coming up behind both boys and clapping a hand onto their shoulders. He turns to Michael, smiling.

“You must be Michael. I’m Andy and these two terrors are Jack and Ben,” Andy says. On instinct, Michael sticks his hand out, nervous smile on his face easing when Andy shakes his hand. Both brothers nod at Michael, clearly giving him a once over that has Michael feeling like he’s not measuring up and that he’s a little embarrassed.

“Alright, stop it you two and help set the table,” Liz says, handing plates to Jack, sending him off in the direction of the table. She hands the glasses to Ben and the utensils to Luke. Michael feels a little helpless standing there until she hands him some napkins and sends him off after the others.

“I’m so sorry about them all,” Luke whispers to Michael as they set up the table.

“Don’t be. It’s...nice. Nice change of pace,” Michael reassures him, trying to tamp down on his own fear and anxiety about the evening. Luke smiles at Michael again, bumping shoulders. Michael grins back, bumping his hip against Luke’s just to hear him giggle. He catches Jack and Ben watching them, knowing grins on their faces, and Michael glances away, focusing instead on Luke.

“Oh good just in time,” Liz says, coming in, carrying a pot of what smells like pasta and some kind of meat. She directs them all where to go, setting the pot down, and serving them all.

They fall into comfortable silence as they start to eat, until Liz turns to Michael.

“So Michael? What do you study? What brought you all the way to New York?”

“I study video game design. The school has a nice program and I got a scholarship, so it seemed silly to not take it. It’s nice, I like it here. Colder than back home that’s for sure,” Michael says, blushing when everyone laughs. 

“Luke used to talk about you all the time last year. About how his roommate was Aussie too and how nice it was to have someone from back home around. Comforting was the word he used,” Liz says. Michael’s surprised a little, considering their rocky relationship at the start of last year. He glances to Luke, sees him staring firmly at his plate, cheeks pink.

“It was nice. Felt like I wasn’t so alone. Nice to be able to do it again this year. Especially cause we have our own bathroom in the dorm this year. Don’t have to worry about sharing,” Michael says, ignoring the surprised look on Luke’s face at the comment.

“Luke takes long showers. Used to use up all the hot water staying in there forever. Although, I’m sure you know all about long showers with Luke,” Jack says smirking at Michael, raising his eyebrows knowingly. Luke chokes on his water, turning to his brothers red-faced and pleading eyes. Both brothers ignore him.

“Luke was also terrible about making a mess in the shower. Water everywhere, never knew how to use a towel. Huge mess everywhere. Bet you would know about Luke making a huge mess in the shower,” Ben grins, winking at Michael. Michael blushes, glancing back down at his plate, hoping Liz or Andy don’t notice. They both seem to have missed the joke, but Luke is glaring at his brothers. 

“Must save a lot on the water bill this year compared to last year. Must save on heating too,” Jack snickers. They giggle a bit, tapering off to keep eating, ignoring the glare Luke is sending them, still bright red.

Michael pushes his food around, staring down at his plate. He likes the Hemmings, but it’s overwhelming being around this many people all at once, having this much social interaction. He feels awkward and unsure, like he’s intruding on some special family moment and he’s not sure what to do or what to say.

“So Michael, do you have any siblings?” Andy asks, clearly trying to make Michael feel more involved in the snippy conversation Luke and Ben are having about Luke’s shower habits.

“No, only child.”

“Ah, so spoiled,” Jack says, snickering. He flinches in the next moment, glaring at Luke, who must have kicked him under the table. Liz shoots him a disapproving look before turning her attention back to Michael.

“Well, since you’re part of the family now, you can have Jack and Ben. I’m sure Luke wouldn’t mind sharing them with his boyfriend,” Liz says, casually.

Michael freezes, fork halfway to his mouth, startled by Liz’s certainty that Michael’s part of the family now. He sees Luke next to him, dropping his fork and hiding his face in his hands.

“Mum, please,” Luke whines, red faced and muffled.

“What’s your parents’ phone number Michael? Maybe I can give them a ring when we get back and try to arrange a meeting. I want to get to know my future in-laws.”

“Mum! We just started dating”

“What’s so bad about me wanting to meet them?

“Mum please. Don’t scare Michael.” 

“Well at least give me their address so I can send them our Christmas card. Since you’re both here, we can take some nice photos to send out after the holidays. Maybe I’ll send them a gift. Can’t look like a bad in-law,” Liz says, absentmindedly. 

Michael’s not sure what to do. He can’t very well tell them his parent’s address. If Liz sends a gift, Michael will have to explain the situation to his parents, which means telling them he’s dating Luke and roping more people into this lie they’re telling. However, if he doesn’t give Liz their address, it’ll look suspicious. He’s also worried that as nice as Liz is, she’ll send some incredibly silly “in-law” style gift and he’ll have to run damage control, swearing to his parents that he’s not married. Everyone’s staring at him expectantly though, like they’re waiting for something from him. Michael coughs.

“I can...I can give you their address. I’m sure my mom would love it,” Michael says. Liz beams at him and Michael ignores the intense stare from Luke, going back to his meal.

The rest of the meal follows uneventfully. Ben and Jack continue to rib Luke, making various jokes about Michael and Luke’s “sex life” much to Luke’s embarassment. It’s nice, seeing them all together, to see their family dynamic playing out. The clear love underlying everything they do makes Michael ache for his own family, no matter how small it is. He misses home, misses his parents, resolves to call them in the morning just to see how they’re doing for the season. 

Liz refuses to allow Michael help wash up the dishes when they’re finished, calling him a guest and insisting that guests don’t have to do chores. Michael decides to escape while he can, going upstairs to take a shower. It’s nice, being under the hot water to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until he stopped moving, standing under the stream of water, washing his hair and cleaning himself off. He wonders if anyone will be mad if he goes to sleep early, limbs heavy with exhaustion.

He doesn’t have to worry long. When he pops back into the bedroom, Luke’s already curled up in the bed, wrapped up in a sweater and under the covers, scrolling through his phone. He smiles when he sees Michael, putting the phone on the bedside table, plugging it into the charger and burrowing down further. Michael approaches the other side, pulling the covers back and getting in.

“Everyone’s tired from all the travel, so they’re all going to bed. It was basically a blanket mom statement that we could go to sleep now. And I want to,” Luke says as Michael re-adjusts the covers. He’s gotten them just right when Luke snuggles into his side, wrapping his arms around Michael. 

“Don’t steal all the covers, you brat,” Michael mumbles, but makes no move to stop or push Luke away. Luke smiles.

“Night Michael,” he says from where he’s curled up on his side, face pressed into Michael’s shoulder. Luke’s warm, a heavy weight at Michael’s side. Michael waits till Luke’s breath has evened out before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Luke’s temple.

“Night Luke. Sweet dreams,” he says, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, dreams filled with Luke Hemmings and the life he’s clearly imaging for them.

***

Michael wakes up the next morning to Luke snoring in his ear. Luke’s curled up, face pressed into Michael’s neck, snoring softly. His feet are cold, pressed into Michael’s calves and Michael wants to pull away, but Luke is wrapped tight around him. For a moment, Michael can forget that this isn’t real. He wants to roll over and press a kiss to Luke’s temple, his cheek, press in close to Luke and just stay here forever. It’s easy to just  _ be _ with Luke. He’s never too much for Luke, never too many things or over the top. Once they’d gotten over their initial awkwardness, it was obvious they were meant to be glued at the hip, Luke always excited to hang out with Michael. It feels at times like they live in each other’s pockets, memorizing all the little details about each other, remembering coffee orders and favorite foods and schedules. Michael’s not a morning person, but on the days Luke has early classes, Michael makes it a point to get up early and get his coffee ready so that when Luke comes rushing out of his room, late as always, Michael at least has that and some food ready for him. Luke does the same, usually has dinner ready for them both from somewhere nearby when Michael eventually comes back late from class tired and hungry. Michael’s never thought about it before, how much of their lives are so intertwined with each other that Michael wouldn’t know what to do without Luke some days.

As much as Michael wants to stay in bed, pressed close to Luke, he’s hungry and he can hear noise from downstairs. Carefully, Michael pulls himself from Luke’s hold and out of bed, hissing when he realizes how cold the floor is. He pulls on a pair of socks laying in his open suitcase and leaves the room as quietly as he can, venturing downstairs. 

Liz is the only one in the kitchen, back to Michael when he comes in, humming quietly under her breath. It looks like she’s making pancakes, something that makes Michael’s chest ache for his own mother. Michael coughs slightly, feeling awkward for just standing there, watching her. Liz turns around, smiling when she sees Michael. Her smile reminds Michael of Luke’s and he can see how much of Liz lives in Luke.

“Michael it’s nice to see you up. You’re the first one up today it seems. I’m just finishing up making these before I wake the boys. Do you want to help?” Liz says, gesturing to the pancake batter. Michael nods, a little startled, makes his way over to the stove. Liz walks him through the steps, putting the batter in the pan and waiting for the pancake to cook on one side, flipping it over. They work in comfortable silence, watching the pancakes before Liz speaks up.

“Thank you for looking out for Luke. He had a rough go at it the first few months. He said you helped him alot, made him feel comfortable and happy. I’m happy he finally worked up the courage to ask you out. From the way he talked about you, I was surprised when he told you just started dating in September. He’s just always been so excited to talk about you and it’s hard for Luke to open up to people. It’s nice to know he has you,” Liz says, smiling when Michael looks over at her. Michael’s not sure what to say, can’t imagine what Luke must have been telling her considering how awful their relationship was last year. It seems Luke’s been painting him in a much better light than Michael thought he would. It makes Michael wish all of this was real all the more, that he wasn’t lying to Liz and everyone, that he could be open and honest, say he loves Luke and have it be  _ real. _ Michael still can’t figure out why Luke told him November originally, but he told his family September.

“It’s just been nice having him. He’s so genuinely kind and loving, I don’t know what I would do without him helping me get through my days,” Michael says, remembering the time last year when the world had hurt so much Michael could barely get out of bed and Luke had come in time and time again, bringing him food and water, sitting with him and going through all the assignments he wasn’t doing and needed help with. Michael’s sure the only reason he ever made it through that semester was Luke’s constant presence. Even once they were out for the summer, they had stayed in contact texting and calling each other everyday, counting down the days until they had been back at college, Luke immediately clutching onto Michael in a tight hug the moment he saw him again. It was comforting, like coming home, knowing that Luke missed him as much as he missed Luke.

Liz smiles, leaning over to press a kiss to Michael’s temple. Michael blushes, turning his attention back to the pancakes.

“You left,” Luke’s voice comes from the doorway, sleep heavy and mumbly. Michael turns around, sees Luke standing there, sweater sleeves covering his hands, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He crosses the kitchen, sighing heavily and dropping his head onto Michael’s shoulder, nuzzling in. Michael can’t help it, turns his head slightly to press a kiss to Luke’s temple. Luke hums happily, rubbing his cheek onto Michael’s shoulder and wrapping an arm around Michael.

“I was hungry. Besides, your feet were cold,” Michael says, laughing when Luke huffs and smacks him lightly on the shoulder. Michael can see Liz smiling fondly at the two of them, as she watches Luke rest on Michael’s shoulder, eyes half lidded and smiling.

“Alright you two, settle down. Why don’t you go sit down to eat? It looks like it might be a good day for ice skating. There’s an outdoor rink nearby Jack and Ben were talking about going to,” Liz says, handing Michael a plate of finished pancakes. Luke perks up at the mention of ice skating. 

“Oh Michael, we have to go. I’ve only ever skated indoors but it’s so much fun. And it’s gorgeous outside,” Luke babbles, tugging Michael over to the table where everything is set out. Michael smiles, amused by Luke’s excitement and happiness, serving out their pancakes and pouring them coffee. 

“How have you gone ice skating before? We live in the least icy place.”

“There’s rinks back home I go to with Jack and Ben sometimes. And we’ve come here before when I was younger. I’m not great at ice skating, but it’s still fun. You’re going to enjoy it so much,” Luke insists, taking a bite of pancake, syrup getting everywhere as he keeps trying to talk about ice skating. It’s cute how messy Luke is when he eats, something Michael’s noticed in the last two years with Luke. When they’d first started having meals together, Luke would eat smaller things or would eat very specific foods around Michael. Now though, Luke seems to eat whatever he wants, unbothered by what it is or what he looks like. He’d told Michael once, that he was self-conscious about doing things like eating in front of people because he didn’t want to look silly or messy, but that Michael made him feel safe enough to not care. It had made Michael feel warm, that Luke thought of him as safe or comfortable enough to be himself around.

Michael huffs, leaning over to wipe Luke’s face where he can see there’s syrup on the corner of his mouth. Luke blushes, stopping mid-sentence to bat Michael’s hand away.

“My mom’s already here Michael, I don’t need you to do it too.”

“Well, she’s not here right now and you always complain about feeling sticky when you use syrup.”

“I do not.”

“You do too. Here, drink some coffee, you’re cranky without it.”

“Yes dear,” Luke says, rolling his eyes, taking the mug from Michael's outstretched hand. Michael hears Liz stifle a laugh from where she’s making more pancakes at the stove. Michael blushes red, sees Luke’s face turn a similar shade as they go back to eating their pancakes. Luke keeps bumping his foot into Michael’s under the table, continuing to talk excitedly about ice skating back home compared to the outdoor areas they have here. Michael remembers vaguely in the back of his mind Luke mentioning that his family has come to this cabin before when he was younger. God, Michael’s going to look like an idiot up there isn’t he? Luke has some experience but Michael has none. He’s going to look so stupid and he’s going to fall and everyone is going to laugh at him, he’s sure of it. 

Luke bumps his foot into Michael’s calf, drawing his attention to him, smiling, “You’ll be fine Michael. I’ll be there for you the whole time. I’ll even help.” 

The tightness in Michael’s chest eases at Luke’s reassurance. Michael’s not sure how it is that Luke seems to know every one of Michael’s thoughts, even when Michael’s trying to hide them. Luke just always seems to understand Michael through and through, knows what to say or do to put Michael at ease, make him feel loved. It’s nice, knowing that someone understands Michael and what he needs.

“God, I’m really gonna fall if you help me.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Luke mumbles. Liz yells  _ language _ at them as she leaves the kitchen, causing Luke to flush and mumble an apology. Michael laughs. Luke sticks his tongue out at Michael in response. They continue to eat, Luke babbling about ice skating back home in the indoor rinks versus the outdoor ones here. Michael is hyper aware of the sound of Luke’s brothers coming down the stairs, sees the way Luke tenses up slightly before finishing his breakfast, standing up.

“I wanna shower before we go. Come with me?” He asks, hesitantly. Michael nods, following Luke to dump their things in the sink and leave the kitchen. They pass by Jack and Ben as they leave, who grin and wolf whistle at Luke. Luke blushes again, grabbing Michael’s hand and tugging him up the stairs. 

“We didn’t have to leave the kitchen cause your family is there. I can handle them.”

“I just...I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed by them, they’re a lot. Also if I leave you there too long, someone is bound to break out the embarrassing stories or photos of me and I would like to preserve your image of me.”

“Oh is that the same image of the boy who cried at  _ Coco  _ last month?”

“Fuck you that movie was sad,” Luke mumbles. Michael laughs, leaning over to press a kiss to Luke’s cheek without thinking. They both freeze up, startled by Michael’s reaction. Michael attempts to laugh it off, but it sounds hollow to even his own ears.

Luke tugs them into the bedroom, grabbing his clothing from the closet before disappearing into the bathroom. Michael settles onto the bed, scrolling through his phone and texting Calum and Ashton with updates. He doesn’t realize he’s dozed off until Luke shakes him awake, smiling softly down at him.

“Hey. You fell asleep again,” Luke says, brushing Michael’s bangs off his face. Michael blushes.

“Just tired I guess. Didn’t mean to.”

“Well, get dressed already. We’re going down the rink,” Luke says, smiling brightly. He’s wearing a sweatshirt, big and soft looking on him, soft gray color. His curls are damp and curling slightly around his face. He looks soft in the light and Michael wants nothing more than to reach out and kiss him, tug him forward slightly and pull him back to bed. However, Michael cannot do either of those things without having to explain himself to Luke. He settles for pushing himself out of bed and grabbing his own clothing, brushing past Luke into the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and change. When he emerges, Luke rushes over to him, pushing a beanie down over this head and fussing over him.

“You’re going to get cold without a hat. Do you want my scarf again? I don’t want you to get cold.”

“Luke, I’m fine.”

“It’s cold out there. I’d be a bad boyfriend if I let you be cold.”

“Well it’s a good thing you’re not my boyfriend ,” Michael mumbles. Luke freezes, frowning slightly. 

“Right...I’m...right, sorry, I’ll...” Luke trails off, pulling his hands back from Michael and coughing slightly. They stand there awkwardly, Luke fidgeting with the sleeve of his sweatshirt until Michael finally grabs his hand, squeezing.

“Come on, you keep talking about ice skating. Lets see if anyone else is ready,” Michael says, pressure in his chest relieving when he sees Luke smile at him, squeezing back. They make their way downstairs, to where everyone else is finishing up cleaning the dishes. Luke’s bouncing in his heels, excitement evident as he waits for everyone to finish what they’re doing, so they can leave. 

He stops suddenly, turning to Michael.

“Oh! You need the scarf,” Luke says, rushing over the clothing rack by the door and grabbing a scarf off it. He rushes back to Michael, wrapping the scarf around his neck, fussing over getting it perfect. Michael can see Luke’s family watching them, Liz and Andy smiling fondly, Jack and Ben rolling their eyes. Michael feels bad, lying to this family about their relationship and lying to Luke about his feelings. He likes Luke, likes his family, and he’s worried that when the truth comes out it will be a whole mess.

Luke waits impatiently by the door, whining at his family until they finally come over and put their coats and boots on, Andy laughing and ruffling Luke’s hair at how excited he gets when they finally start to leave the house. It’s a tight fit in the car, with not enough space in the backseat that ends in Luke sitting on Michael’s lap with Jack and Ben nudging Michael and grinning at him. Luke is oblivious to it, talking excitedly about ice skating and what it’s like outdoors and how much he enjoys it. Michael can’t help it, presses his forehead into Luke’s shoulder, humming quietly in response to what Luke’s saying even if he’s only half listening. It’s nice, listening to Luke ramble on, feeling the vibrations of his voice, grounding and soothing him. 

They get to the rink and Liz herds them to go rent their skates, even though they’re all adults and know where they’re going. Michael appreciates it anyway, still anxious about skating on the rink. Everyone out there seems to know what they’re doing and Michael isn’t even sure if he can stay upright. 

Luke has to help him put the skates on, lacing them up and tying them tightly. He tugs Michael up to his feet. 

“Luke I’m going to fall.” 

“You won’t.” 

“Yes I will.” 

“No you won’t. I’ve got you,” Luke says, squeezing Michael’s hands as he slowly pulls him out onto the rink. 

Michael’s a mess. He can’t seem to get his balance right, standing too wide and sliding forward slightly. Luke’s the only reason he’s even staying upright, tight grip on his hands and staying close to him. 

Michael’s just started to get the hang of it, standing more upright, confident he can go in a straight line when Jack goes zooming by him. Michael’s starts, surprised at the movement. He stumbles a little, Luke tightening his grip on Michael’s arms.

“You’re fine, Michael,” He says, brow furrowed as he keeps skating backwards.

“I’m a fucking mess and look at you. You’re going backwards! I can barely go in a straight line,” Michael says, proving his point when he slips again and Luke has to steady him. 

“Well, you’re upright. That’s the first trick,” Luke says, brightly, clearly trying to ease Michael’s worry. Michael thinks it would be more convincing if he wasn’t so shaky. 

He manages to finally get his balance a little, letting go of one of Luke’s hands so they’re skating next to each other. It’s not great, but Michael feels a little more stable now. Until Ben zooms by, brushing Michael lightly at the same time Michael hits a weird part of the ice. He trips, tugging Luke down with him, landing on his knees, barely catching himself with his free hand. Luke squeaks in surprise as he goes down too, landing on his elbows trying to stop himself from hitting the ice face first. 

Michael can’t explain it, but he starts tearing up. He’s trying to stop them, doesn’t want to look like an idiot in front of Luke’s family. Liz and Andy are watching them both from the bank, concern clearly written on their face, Jack and Ben laughing where they’ve stopped on the ice. Luke is wincing, face pink from the cold, checking his hands and looking Michael’s over too, fretting over Michael’s possible injuries. Michael can’t hear a word Luke is saying, hot tears running down his cheeks, pounding in his ears.

Michael hiccups, trying to swallow down a sob when Luke looks up. He frowns, bringing his hands up to cup Michael’s cheeks and rub at his tears.

“Oh Michael, sweetie, no it's okay. You’re fine, I’m fine, nobody got hurt. Just a little startled. Mikey, talk to me,” Luke says, rubbing his thumbs back and forth against Michael’s cheeks.

“I just...I just feel so stupid. I wanted to be better at this because you like it and your family likes it and I’m being an idiot. And then your brothers clearly keep trying to trip me and no one likes me and I made you fall down too and now I’m crying in public and it’s just so stupid,” Michael hiccups out around his tears. Luke makes a little noise of concern, scooting closer to Michael.

“Hey, no you’re not stupid. Ben and Jack are just annoying and obnoxious and they mean well they’re just dumb older brothers. I promise they like you. I promise everyone likes you. My mom doesn’t even make pancakes for us on the holidays. She must really like you. We all do.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise,” Luke says, hooking a pinky around Michael’s and squeezing. Michael hiccups again.

“I’m being a baby. Now I’m crying in public.”

“We’ll just say it was from the shock of falling. You’re not the first person to fall ice skating,” Luke says, leaning over to kiss Michael’s temple. Michael sniffles.

“Do you wanna take a break? See if we can find some hot chocolate?”

“Can we?” 

Luke nods, pushing himself to his feet. He reaches out for Michael, taking hold of his arms and helping to tug Michael up. He guides Michael back to the bank, where Liz immediately comes over to fret over the two of them, checking them both over to make sure they’re both intact and uninjured. Luke tries to brush her off, swearing they’re fine even as she insists on checking them over. 

“Michael, why don’t I take you to go get something to drink? I know Luke wants to keep skating, but I think maybe you need a break,” She says. Michael nods, letting Liz shoo Luke back to the ice, guiding Michael over to a bench so he can swap out his skates for his boots. She buys him hot chocolate at a stand and sits with him on the bench while they watch the others skate around the ice. For all of Luke’s claims, he’s graceful on the ice, gliding around easily laughing with Jack and Ben.

“He’s amazing,” Michael says, unable to stop himself from voicing his thoughts out loud. Liz smiles.

“He is, but he’s my baby and I have to say that,” She smiles. Michael giggles, feeling the tightness in his chest loosen a little. It’s easy, forgetting this is all supposed to be a lie. Michael likes Luke’s family, likes being a part of their family.

“Oh! I wanted to show you,” Liz says, pulling her phone from her pocket and scrolling through her photos until she finds what she’s looking for. She turns the phone to Michael. There’s a picture of the two of them on the ice, Michael barely upright, clinging to Luke. Luke’s grinning, curls windswept, face flushed. Michael looks fearful, blonde fringe sticking out from under his beanie. He’s wrapped up in Luke’s scarf, Luke wearing the soft blue gloves Michael bought him last year because Luke always whines that his hands are cold. They look happy, Luke’s attention focused completely on Michael. Despite how scared Michael looks, the photo makes him happy, seeing the evidence that Luke’s happy to be around him, content to be with him. It’s a nice photo.

“Can you send that to me?” Michael asks. Liz smiles at him.

“Of course, sweetie,” Liz says, letting Michael give her his number. He watches her make a new contact for Michael, sending the photo to him. Michael smiles, quietly making the photo his home screen. He sees Liz smile out of the corner of his eye, rolling her eyes fondly. 

Michael’s content to sit with Liz, chatting with her about his classes and video games, listening to her talk about teaching and maths class. Eventually, Luke skates up, wide eyed and begging Michael to try skating at least one more time. He begrudgingly accepts, letting Luke hold his hand under the guise of guiding him across the ice. He manages to stay upright this time, getting the hang of it before they finally decide to leave.

They head back to the cabin to make lunch and watch movies. Michael lets Luke curl up next to him on the couch while they watch  _ Star Wars _ , commenting on the movie back and forth. It isn’t until later when they’re getting ready for bed that Michael checks his phone, realizing that Liz sent him another photo. It’s from when Michael went back onto the ice, the two of them holding hands. Luke is gazing at Michael, curls brushed from his face, cheeks rosy pink, soft smile on his face. Michael is looking at Luke too, fondness open and clear on his face. Michael has to take a moment, reminds himself that it’s not real, that they’re not dating, despite how he feels, despite how happy Luke looks. It’s too much, seeing their love like that, out in the open for everyone to see. Michael quietly puts the photo as his lock screen, hiding his phone from Luke when he asks what Michael’s doing, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Liz is sending Michael these photos, like she knows something Michael doesn’t.

***

Michael wakes up to Luke hovering over him. It’s certainly not the first time it’s happened, but it’s certainly the first time Luke’s been grinning from ear to ear when he’s doing it.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“We get to decorate the tree today,” Luke says, sitting back on his heels, still grinning. Michael sits up, rubbing his eyes and looking over at Luke. He has pillow lines on his cheek and his curls are frizzy around his head, sleep tousled and wild. He looks like a golden retriever, smiling widely and practically bouncing in his seat in excitement. 

“How are you possibly this awake? And isn’t this a rental cabin?”

Luke waves it away, “There’s a tree here and some ornaments and stuff. My mom went out and bought some extra stuff too, so we’d have stuff to decorate too, make it feel more like ours. And how can  _ you _ not be excited? Tree decorating!”

Luke climbs off the bed, grinning at Michael. He holds his hands out making a little grabby gesture to Michael.

“Do I have to get up?” Michael whines, even as he scoots himself to the edge of the bed, taking Luke’s hands and letting himself be pulled out of bed.

“Yes! Tree decorating is very important. Also coffee. Or tea. I had Mum buy some Earl Grey tea for you. I forgot to tell you yesterday because I know you don’t like coffee,” Luke babbles, bouncing on his heels as he tugs Michael out the door and into the kitchen.

“And the best part is that Mum sent Jack and Ben out with Dad to buy some stuff, so it’ll just be the three of us. She doesn’t trust Jack and Ben not to fuck things up, so she put us in charge,” Luke finishes, turning to Michael, face lit up. Michael smiles fondly, nodding.

“Big responsibility measuring up to Liz Hemmings standards.”

“You already do,” Luke says seriously. Michael doesn’t have time to question it, Luke pulling him into the kitchen. Liz is already in there, putting out some toast and peanut butter for them. She smiles at the two of them, letting Luke rush over for a hug, pressing a kiss to his forehead before he runs over to the counter to get his coffee. She sees Michael standing awkwardly in the doorway, motioning for him to come over. He crosses the kitchen, letting Liz pull him in for a hug and a forehead kiss as well.

“I made you some tea already. Luke told me you prefer it and I made it when he said he was going to wake you up. Thought it might be nice for you to have something when you woke up.”

Michael hums his thanks, taking the mug from the container. Luke’s still bouncing excitedly, already hyped without the coffee. Michael can see the fond smile on Liz’s face as Luke rambles on about tree decorating and their traditions at home. It’s cute, seeing how happy Luke is about being able to decorate a tree here, getting to share this tradition with Michael. It takes some coaxing to get Luke to sit down at the table and eat something, Michael literally having to place the peanut butter toast in his hand so Luke will take a bite. He can hear Liz in the living room, unpacking things from boxes and bags, setting up for them. Luke’s talking around his mouthful of toast, crumbs getting everywhere as he tells Michael about how they buy a family ornament every year to celebrate.

“What’d you get this year? Since you’re not home.”

“A little bear. Cause of our school’s mascot. Since we’re spending the holiday here and you’re with us. She wanted it to be memorable,” Luke says, taking a sip of coffee. Michael doesn’t point out the obvious, that if this relationship is fake, buying an ornament for it will only make things sadder later when they “break up.” Not that Michael wouldn’t mind carrying this fake relationship all the way to a wedding. Might be funny, seeing how long they can carry on like this, before Michael breaks his own heart.

“Tell me it’s not from the school store.”

“It’s not! God, that would be embarrassing. No it’s a little black bear she found online somewhere.”

“Better,” Michael says, nodding. Luke laughs, high pitched and a little nasally like always. Michael finds Luke’s laugh endearing, a sign that he’s truly happy about something. 

“Are you done? I wanna decorate,” Luke whines, chugging the last of his coffee, staring at Michael expectantly.

“You’re a brat. Can’t do anything right for you,” Michael teases, picking up his mug to take with him. Luke scoffs, rolling his eyes as he gathers up the plates and dumps everything into the sink to wash later. Michael follows him into the living room, where Liz has set out everything into little piles. She’s part way through wrapping the lights around the tree, gesturing to Luke to get him to help her arrange the higher up ones. Luke eagerly goes over, adjusting the lights under her direction. Michael pokes around the ornament boxes, looking at the little colored balls, blues, silvers, red, greens and golds and the little figures, fun little mermaids and forest creatures. There’s a surfboard that makes Michael snort, a little guitar that must be for Luke, some construction based ones, and a little teacher’s apple. Michael finds a little video game counsel, surprised, and glancing over at Liz, who’s smiling at him knowingly. Michael blushes, realizing that Liz’s bought him his own ornament, given him a place on the tree with the rest of the family. 

“Well, it looks like the lights are good. Why don’t you bring some of the ornaments over Michael? We can get started on them,” Liz says. Michael obliges, putting his mug down to push the box over and starts digging through it. They pull each ornament out, Luke launching into a story about each one as he hangs them on the tree. Liz seems content watching the two of them sitting on the couch with her own coffee, giving her input whenever they place one in the wrong spot or Luke gets too wrapped up in his stories. 

“Mum got this surfboard when Jack and Ben tried to teach me. I must have been like 13 or so. I fell so many times in my face at one point we thought I broke my nose on the board. I still haven’t gotten the hang of surfing,” Luke says, handing it to Michael. Michael laughs, hanging it on the tree. 

“You’re a terrible Aussie then. Can’t even surf, mate. Who are you?” 

Luke scoffs, nudging Michael, “Like you can surf! I saw you trip on the stairs of our dorm once.” 

“Hey! That was a private moment of embarrassment only I was meant to experience. How long have you been sitting on that?” 

“A year. I saw you when I was coming up the stairs, but I didn’t want to tell you. Figured I’d store it for good blackmail info later.” 

“Horrible boyfriend. We have to break up now.” 

“I have blackmail though. Can’t break up with me now. Should just marry me instead.” 

“Not with that attitude. It’s very  _ you  _ to demand marriage, you brat.” 

Luke laughs, loud and bright. He leans forward, pressing a quick kiss to Michael’s lips, before turning back to the tree. Michael’s startled, warmed from the inside realizing that Luke’s just kissed him. It’s their first kiss.  _ It’s their first kiss _ ...and it’s not real. None of this is real. 

Michael chokes back his noise of despair, swallowing hard and turning back to the tree. He listens to Luke keep talking about each ornament as they hang them grinning the whole time. Once they’ve put all the ornaments up, Luke gets out the tinsel and holds one end out to Michael, leading him around the tree in a loop as they hang it all up. He grabs the star topper, reaching up on his tiptoes to situate it, bottom of his sweatshirt creeping up to expose a stripe of his stomach and hipbones. Luke steps back, admiring his work and grinning at Michael. Michael plugs in the tree, smiling at the soft glow from the tree in the morning light. They take a step back to admire the whole tree, smiling at each other. 

“What about our ornament?” Michael asks, realizing that Luke never showed him the bear. 

“What?” 

“The bear. You said there was a bear.” 

“Oh!” Luke says, turning around to look for it. It’s sitting on the table, a little red scarf around its neck, smiling at them. Luke picks it up, holding it out to Michael. 

“What?”

“You should pick where it goes. Since it’s an ornament for you too.”

“I already picked where the controller went.”

“No, I suggested it go next to my guitar and you listened to me. I want you to pick where this goes, no help from me,” Luke says, holding the bear out. Michael takes it cautiously, fingers brushing against Luke’s as he takes hold of the string, holding it up lightly. Luke nods encouragingly at him as Michael turns on his heels, finding an empty space at the front of the tree, right in between the lights. He carefully hangs the bear in the space, turning to grin at Luke, revealing in his smile as Luke claps his hands excitedly, leaning over to press a kiss to Michael’s cheek.

“Looks nice boys. I knew I could trust you to get the job done,” Liz says from the doorway, surveying their work. Luke grins at her as she comes to examine the tree, nodding her approval.

“Really?”

“Yes. Looks nice and even. Perfect. Now, help me clean up the boxes so the living room looks presentable and usable. I think we have enough time for a short cooking lesson for lunch. You did mention wanting to learn,” She says, addressing Luke. He nods earnestly, starting to clean up the room, Michael mimicking him. They go about the rest of their day, making lunch with Liz, watching some movies with the family, having dinner. It isn’t until Michael’s excused himself to go take a shower that he checks his phone and realizes Liz has texted him more photos. 

There’s one from earlier, the two of them standing in front of the tree. She’s managed to capture the moment, Luke holding out the bear ornament, Michael taking it. They’re standing close to each other, fingers touching, lit up by the soft glow of the lights and from the outside. Michael’s surprised by the open look of fondness and adoration on Luke’s face, matching the one on his as well. They look happy and in love, standing there in front of the tree. They look like they belong together. Michael has to swallow down on the sadness welling up in him that Luke doesn’t feel that way, only likes Michael as a friend, nothing more. That the fondness is because they’re good friends, that they’re roommates. Michael saves the picture anway, relishing in the softness of Luke’s face, the love he feels for his best friend, before locking his phone. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’ll talk to Luke about how he feels.

***

Tomorrow doesn’t work for Michael. He wakes up late, Luke already escaped to the kitchen for breakfast and coffee. By the time Michael stumbles down there, everyone’s already there, eating and shouting at each other. There’s some argument going on, about whether or not they can hold a snowball fight outside or build a snowman. Luke seems to be in favor of whatever option leaves him the most intact. Ben and Jack are arguing in favor of a snowball fight. Michael’s in favor of whatever is going to get them to be quiet. Liz must see the face Michael’s making when he comes in, shooting him a look of sympathy and holding out a mug to him.

“Luke mentioned you like snickerdoodles,” Liz says. Michael takes a sip of his tea.

“I do,” Michael says, perking up.

“Once they’ve run themselves out in the snow, I can teach you and Luke how to make them. They’re easy enough. Can’t have Christmas without cookies.” 

Michael nods, sipping his tea and smiling as he watches Luke lead a passionate debate about why making a snowman is the better option. He’s going to lose, two against one and Luke is the baby of the family, but it’s nice, watching him determined to win this fight. In the end, they come to a tie, Luke agreeing to a snowball fight if it means they can make a snowman after. Somehow, Michael’s been roped into being on Luke’s team for both, everyone claiming that as the boyfriend he’s supposed to help Luke. Michael grumbles, pretending to be put out until Luke pouts and whines for Michael to help him. Michael can’t help it, leaning over to press a kiss to Luke’s lips until he smiles. It’s so easy for Michael to do it, to believe that this is something they do all the time. Luke giggles when Michael pulls back, covering his face and blushing a little when his brothers laugh at him.

They get their jackets and hats on before heading outside. Michael’s never been in a snowball fight before and he’s caught between feeling like a little kid and having fun pelting Jack and Ben with snowballs and listening to Luke shriek everytime he gets hit with one, yelling at Michael each time for not protecting him better. Michael would argue that Luke knew what he was getting into, putting Michael on his team knowing Michael’s never done this before, but Luke’s too busy yelling at Jack and Ben to  _ be nice to my boyfriend _ when one of them hits Michael in the face. Michael’s dazed and in love, but it doesn’t stop him from dumping cold snow down the back of Luke’s sweater just to hear him scream and smack Michael on the arm. Eventually Jack and Ben tire of harassing the two of them with snowballs and head inside, leaving Luke and Michael outside on their own.

“You mentioned wanting to build a snowman?” Michael points out to Luke, once Luke’s collapsed back onto the snow. He stares up at Michael, hair falling around his face. He’s glowing in the light, curls bright and haloed around his head. It makes Michael’s heart ache, looking at him like this, soft and young. 

“Did I?” 

“You did. That was your one condition to the snowball fight, that we all make snowmen.” 

“Well, Jack and Ben left us.” 

“So?”

“Don’t you still want to do it?” Michael asks. Luke perks up, propping himself up on his elbows to look at Michael. 

“You mean, you’ll make one with me?” 

“Of course. Seems like it’s the seasonal thing to do.” 

Luke grins widely, sitting up in the snow. He nods, happy, before directing Michael on what to do. They manage to roll the body for the snowman, Luke finding some sticks for the arms while Michael finds some stones that they can use for the face. Luke’s pink cheeked by the end, laughing and happy while they put the finishing touches on their snowman. Luke insists they name him, Michael deciding on John in an attempt to tease Luke about his “It’s not a crush” crush on the lead singer of The Maine. Luke blushes, shoving Michael lightly and then scrambling to grab him and apologize when Michael stumbles and looks like he’s going to fall.

Eventually, Liz calls them both inside, insisting that they’ll freeze if they stay outside any longer and they have to start making the cookies. Luke excitedly tugs Michael inside, babbling on about snickerdoodle cookies and how they make them as they hang up their coats. Everything’s already set up in the kitchen, flour and sugar out already, all the wet ingredients measured and ready.

It’s easy enough to mix everything together, letting Liz guide them through measuring out what they need to. Luke lets Michael stir everything together, something that is clearly considered an honor to Luke. Liz watches them both fondly, chuckling at Luke’s eagerness and excitement watching Michael try to make cookies.

“Now the tricky part of these cookies is that the dough has to harden in the fridge for an hour,” Liz tells them, taking the bowl and putting it into the fridge. She turns to Michael, all smiles and Michael has a brief moment to dread the questions he knows are about to come.

“So Michael, you’re studying video game design?”

“Uh...yeah. I was a really shy kid, so I grew up on video games because I refused to talk to other kids. The older I got, the more interested I was in creating my own video games. Eventually, I started messing around trying to learn coding. My parents noticed I had an interest in it and since they work in computers, it was easy enough for them to encourage me and help me out. Figure out my path.”

“Oh, your parents work in computers?”

“Yeah, they own a business for them. Fixing them, working on them, stuff. I think they were hoping I’d end up doing the same thing, but you know, I like video games,” Michael shrugs. Luke snorts.

“Nerd,” Luke says fondly, rolling his eyes at Michael. 

“No one asked you to comment on my computer habits.”

“Well, someone has to when it cuts into you sleeping. You barely sleep as it is with classes and I don’t want you to miss out on sleeping. It’s important.”

“You’re just saying that because if I’m asleep during movie night, you have no one to talk to.”

“Well, that too,” Luke says, pouting. Michael grins, leaning over to grab Luke’s hand and kiss the back of it. Luke blushes, glancing away from Michael. Michael blushes when he realizes that Liz is watching the two of them, smiling softly. 

They wait for the dough, Liz asking questions about Michael’s family, his major, what he likes about school. It makes Michael miss his own mom, remember that he has to give her a ring and talk to her soon. Michael tries not to read into the way Luke watches him and Liz, smiling brightly as he watches the two of them interact, like he’s excited that they’re getting along so well. It makes Michael blush, thinking about how well he fits into Luke’s family, what it means to have their love. 

The timer dings, letting them know the dough is ready and Liz takes it out, Luke setting up the cinnamon sugar mix they need for the coating. Michael uses it as an excuse to pretend he doesn’t know how to roll a ball of dough, so that Luke will put his hands on Michael’s and guide him. He’s grinning the way time, teasing and eyebrows raised, like he knows exactly what Michael is doing and doesn’t mind, showing him how to roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture. They set the cookies out on the baking tray, putting them in the oven and setting a timer. Michael listens to Luke talk about his classes, the guitar class he took as an elective, talking about Calum and Ashton, watching Luke with a fond smile. 

Eventually the cookies are ready, Liz taking them out to cool and letting Luke and Michael steal one as a reward for their help. They retreat to their bedroom to curl up in bed, claiming they’ll watch a movie, where Michael knows Luke will fall asleep on him within 5 minutes. It’s nice though, as they settle in, Luke curling up into Michael’s side as they start playing  _ Star Wars Episode IV, _ Michael playing with Luke’s curls. His phone lights up again, another photo from Liz. This one is of them rolling the dough, Luke’s nose streaked with flour, hands clasped over Michael’s, laughing at something Michael’s said, eyes crinkled at the corners and dimples on his cheeks. Michael’s staring at Luke, soft smile on his face, eyes lit up. It makes Michael’s heart ache seeing it, knowing how plain it is to see his love for Luke, that it’s all part of a  _ thing _ they’re putting on for his family. They’re friends, nothing more. Although it’s getting harder and harder for Michael to keep telling himself that, especially with Luke curled up on his chest, half asleep and smiling. 

***

“Tell me again, why do I have to do this?” Michael says. He’s holding the edge of the sweater up, bright green with red stars on it. It’s sparkly, covered in glitter and what could be sequins. It makes Michael’s eyes hurt looking at it for too long and he’s concerned that Luke’s wearing a matching one.

“Because it’s family tradition.”

“It’s family tradition to wear an ugly sweater and take pictures?”

“Don’t be mean,” Luke says, rolling his eyes, arms crossed. They’ve been arguing for the last few minutes about whether or not Michael has to participate in this “family tradition” considering he’s only Luke’s boyfriend (fake, but it’s not like they know that).

“But I’m not part of the family Luke. We’ve been over this.”

“You are! Even if this isn’t real, you’re still my best friend. That counts for something.”

Michael sighs, dramatic and put upon, “You’re lucky I love you.”

Luke beams widely, dimples popping out on his cheek as Michael pulls the sweater over his head. It must mess up his hair because Luke tuts and reaches over, trying to fix Michael’s fringe into something presentable. Michael rolls his eyes, knowing that his hair has never looked presentable in the least. It’s nice though, having Luke’s hands on him as he frets about making sure Michael looks nice. This close, Michael can see that Luke’s wearing glittery gold eyeshadow, something shimmery on his cheeks, and a light pink gloss. He looks pretty in the light, soft and glowing. It warms Michael’s heart seeing Luke like this, comfortable and happy. 

“Alright pretty boy, that’s enough. My hair looks fine.”

“It does not,” Luke pouts, letting Michael swat away his hands. 

“My hair always looks like this.”

“Well, maybe it’s a sign to fix your hair,” Luke says. Michael rolls his eyes, ushering Luke out of the bedroom and down to where Liz has gathered everyone in front of the tree for photos. She’s directing everyone where to sit, placing Luke and his brothers in the tree, the three of them sitting on the ground smiling. Michael hangs back, making a face at Luke just to watch him try to stifle his laughter and contain his smile while Liz keeps telling Luke to stop laughing. It’s cute, watching them all sit close together, smiling widely in their matching sweaters. It’s easy to see the family resemblance like this, with them all together. 

Liz snaps a few more photos of the brothers together before turning to Michael and gesturing for him to join. Michael tries to hang back, shaking his head when Liz clearly insists that Michael join the photos. Luke rolls his eyes, breaking away from his brothers to pull Michael into the photos, throwing his arms around him and grinning. Michael allows himself to be squashed between Luke and Jack, blushing at the idea that Liz considers him part of the family, that he’s important enough to be in photos with her boys. 

Eventually, Liz shoos Jack and Ben from the area, leaving Luke and Michael alone in front of the tree, clearly wanting them to take a more couple style photo. They’re both stiff at first, clearly trying to hug each other while being close enough to keep it believable, but still trying to keep some distance. The more photos she takes, the more comfortable they get, Luke wrapping an arm around Michael’s shoulder and sticking his tongue out, while Michael throws up a peace sign and sticks out his tongue. Liz laughs, snapping pictures as the two of them ease into taking photos, getting comfortable. Luke comes behind Michael, wraps his arms around his waist and rests his chin on Michael’s head, laughing when Michael lets out an offended gasp at Luke. It makes Luke laugh even harder when Michael tries to de-tangle himself from Luke’s arms, elbowing him in the stomach while Luke squeaks at Michael. Michael throws his arms around Luke, pressing a kiss to his cheek, trying to be as goofy as possible. Luke laughs loudly, snorting at the end as he pushes at Michael, whining at him.

Liz chides them until they settle down, letting her take some nicer photos of them together before she gets Jack and Ben again, setting the camera up to take shots of the whole family together. Michael tries to leave the photo, stopping when Luke grabs at his arm, tightening his grip when Michael tugs at his arm. Michael stops short, letting Luke manhandle him into position, smiling automatically when Liz tells him too. He’s in a family photo. A photo that is clearly meant to be sent out to everyone in Luke’s family. Michael’s choked up, vision a little blurry from the panic that sets into his chest. He and Luke are in far too deep for this lie if Michael’s in family photos.

Michael escapes to the kitchen when Liz hands the camera to Ben to have him take photos of her and Andy. He’s poking around the cabinets, looking for a glass to get some water with. He turns around, glass in hand, startling when he realizes Luke’s joined him. Michael goes to the fridge, getting some water from it, while Luke stands there, doe-eyed and watching Michael, clearly waiting for him to make the first move. Michael refuses, taking a sip of water and turning to face Luke. Luke rolls his eyes, opening the fridge and rummaging around until he pops out, holding some cheese squares in his hands. He puts them on the counter, crossing the kitchen to get crackers from the cabinet and coming back. He opens both, pulling out a piece of cheese and putting it onto the cracker, taking a bite. He looks expectantly at Michael. Michael’s weak to cheese and crackers and he resents that Luke knows this and is using it against him when he feels like this, overwhelmed and chest tight.

Michael takes the peace offering, pulling out a piece of cheddar and nibbling at it.

“I’m sorry if we’re overwhelming you. Mum just gets excited and she likes the holidays. She wants everything to be perfect and I think it’s worse this year because she’s trying to impress you.”

“Why does she want to impress me?”

“Because you’re my boyfriend? She wants to make a good impression on you.”

“I’m a shitty excuse for a boyfriend...a  _ fake  _ boyfriend,” Michael mumbles, only loud enough for Luke to hear. Luke blushes, tip of his ears turning pink under his curls.

“Well she doesn’t know that. Besides why would she not want to make a good impression on you?” Luke asks. He sounds hurt at the idea that Michael doesn’t want his family to like him, wilting slightly. Michael sighs, taking another bite of cheese and crackers.

“That’s not what I meant Luke. I’m happy your family likes me. I just...I don’t know. I’m not used to it, is all. You’re like my first boyfriend.”

“Am I really?”

“Yeah. Should surprise no one that I was an anti-social, shy kid in high school who rarely talked to other people or brought people home. Oh god, I can never bring you home.”

Luke perks up, “Why not?”

“My mum will smother you. She’ll never let you leave. At least you have Jack and Ben to distract your mum. I have no one else. She’ll have the baby photos out in no time.”

“Oh now I  _ have _ to come visit,” Luke says, laughing loudly at the horrified face Michael must make.

“Oh hush up,” Michael grumbles, shoving Luke’s shoulder lightly. Luke snorts, going back to his snack, grinning at Michael. Michael smiles back, reaching over the counter to link his pinky with Luke’s and smiles.

“What?”

“Thanks.”

“What did I do?”

“You just...you exist. You always know what to say to make me feel better or what to do. I don’t know that I would do without you all the time.”

“Well it’s a good thing you have me. You’re in the family Christmas photos now you’re stuck with me now,” Luke smiles, leaning over to press a kiss to Michael’s cheek. Michael blushes, ducking his head and eating his cheese.

Liz calls to them, beckoning them out to the living room to show them the pictures she’s taken. Michael’s only half paying attention as she holds the camera out, clicking through the photos and showing them each one. Michael zones back in when Luke nudges him, gesturing to the camera. It’s a photo of Luke and Michael, one of the silly ones. Michael’s got both arms wrapped around Luke, on his tiptoes, pressing a kiss to Luke’s cheek while he laughs, cheeks dimpled and eyes crinkled up in laughter. He’s glittering in the lights, sparkly face and sweater standing out on him. Michael’s got his eyes closed too, lips to Luke’s cheek and corners of his lips turned up into a smile. It’s soft, seeing the two of them in the photo, love written all over it.

“It’s a nice photo of you boys. I’ll have to give you a copy for your apartment. Something to remember your first Christmas together. You can show your kids it,” Liz says casually, clicking through more photos. Luke goes white, turning to Liz, eyes wide. Michael’s throat tightens, terror filling him. Luke’s family is going to hate him when they discover the truth about it all. Or worse, when Luke and Michael “break up.”

“Mum! We’ve only just started dating! Don’t scare Michael!” Luke cries, despair written all over his face.

Liz laughs, “I’m only teasing you two love. You’re far too young for kids.”

She winks at Michael. Michael tries to smile, hoping the fear on his face is hidden better. It’s a lot, realizing that Luke’s family thinks of them as a forever thing, that they’re meant to be when it’s all  _ fake. _ It doesn’t stop Michael from asking Liz to send him a copy of the photo when Luke’s not listening. After all, he wants the evidence of Luke’s love for him, something that he can keep close.

***

Michael’s nervous for Christmas. He didn’t expect it to get here so quickly, but here it is. He feels like he’s wasted half the break doing nothing, which really is what you’re supposed to do on break. He’s gotten more comfortable around Luke’s family in the last couple days, fitting in with them and finding his own space. Now that it’s Christmas Day though, Michael’s realizing that break is almost over. Break will be over soon and then he and Luke will head back to the City and everything will go back to normal. They’ll be just friends, just roommates and Michael will have to pretend he doesn’t know what it means to fall asleep next to Luke, wake up cuddled next to him, seeing his face when he’s sleep soft, pretend he doesn’t know what it means to kiss Luke, how it feels. 

Michael’s nervous to give Luke his Christmas gift. He’s been awake for the last few hours, staring at the ceiling, listening to Luke’s soft snores, thinking about it. It’s a dumb gift, a vinyl copy of one of Luke’s favorite albums and a mixtape Michael made of all the music that reminds him of Luke, of things that he knows Luke likes and things he thinks Luke might like. He put far too much thought into it and now he’s nervous that Luke won’t like it. Which is stupid because it’s Luke. He knows Luke like the back of his hand, knows exactly what Luke adores. Logically Luke should like the gift but he’s nervous Luke will think it’s silly or stupid or  _ something _ . It’s putting Michael on edge, making him anxious, especially because Luke’s family will be there. God, what if  _ they _ think the gifts are stupid. Michael will have to leave immediately if he makes a fool of himself in front of Luke’s family.

“You’re thinking too hard for Christmas,” Luke mumbles, rolling over and snuggling into Michael’s side. 

“I’m thinking about your gift.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it. You’re just overthinking it, like you always do.”

“I do not!”

“Last year I thought you were going to have a panic attack when you gave me that little care package of my favorite snacks and those socks and candles. Not to mention when you sent me that signed poster for  _ You are Ok _ for my birthday.”

“Well I used up all my good gift ideas last year.”

“You did not! We know each other so much better now it would be literally impossible for you to use up all your gift ideas so soon,” Luke says, propping himself up to glare at Michael. Michael huffs, rolling his eyes at Luke.

“Is this your way of saying you want to get up so I’ll give you your gift.”

“Yes!” 

“Fine you brat, we can get up. Since I’m sure your family is waiting for us anyway.”

Luke practically flies out of bed, bouncing on the balls of his feet waiting for Michael to pull himself out of bed. The shoulder of his sweatshirt slips down, sleeves hanging over his hands and he looks so soft, so warm that it takes all of Michael’s strength not to reach over, pull Luke back to bed, and kiss him.

Michael pulls himself from bed, lets Luke interlace their fingers, and tug them down to the living room where Michael can hear the sounds of Luke’s family near the tree. He knows it’s family tradition for them to open gifts before eating breakfast, which makes Michael even more nervous without the barrier of other morning activities before Luke opens his presents. They’re poorly wrapped, Michael’s terrible attempts, but he figures it’ll matter more what’s on the inside anyway. It’s not like Luke’s expecting it to be well wrapped considering last year he didn’t even wrap the care package. 

Everyone’s sitting around on the couch when Luke and Michael enter. The gifts are divided up into neat piles, clearly meant for each person and Michael’s surprised to see there are a few gifts sitting on the side for himself beside whatever it is that Luke’s bought him. Luke bounds over to the couch, settling himself down on the corner of it. Michael joins him, the two of them squished next to each other on the couch with the lack of space. Liz smiles at the two of them when she realizes they’ve joined, meaning they’re allowed to open gifts now. 

It’s a messy affair, wrapping paper everywhere as the boys open their gifts. Michael’s touched when he opens his gift from Liz and Andy, seeing that it’s a large Pokemon themed fuzzy blanket. Luke blushes, mumbling that he told his mum Michael liked gaming and this gift must be what she decided on. Michael’s touched, that she listened to Luke, that she decided to get something, that it’s perfect for him in many ways. It’s soft and warm and Michael wraps it around his shoulders, laughing when Luke blushes. They’ve also bought him a few packs of TimTams and some other cookies and snack foods that can only be found in Australia. It makes him a little less homesick seeing the snack foods. They’ve given Luke something similar too, Luke brightening up when he opens the gift. There’s the customary clothing and money gifts as well, guitar picks from Luke’s brothers to him, a few other music gifts for him as well.

Then, the only thing left for Luke is Michael’s gift. Luke grabs for it, turning the poorly wrapped red paper over in his hands, glancing up at Michael.

“Is it a record?”

“You’ll have to open it and see,” Michael says, aiming for casual when he’s nothing but a bundle of nerves. Luke raises his eyebrows, peeling the paper back. His eyes widen when he pulls out the vinyl copy of  _ Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop _ and the little burned mixtape. He holds the record up, looking at Michael in awe.

“How did you manage to get this? I thought it was all sold out.”

“I stayed up really late, refreshing the website to make sure I got a copy. I know how much you like it, with how you’re always playing  _ I Must Be Dreaming  _ on your guitar.”

Ben snorts, “Are you still playing that song Luke? It’s been like 10 years you need a new song to play for your crushes.”

Luke goes bright red at that, “I just like the song Ben! There’s nothing wrong with it!”

Ben rolls his eyes, “If you say so. Seems like a played out flirting technique. Get a new song.”

Luke glares at him before turning his attention back to the CD, “What’s this?”

“It’s a mixtape. Of songs we’ve listened to together or songs I think you might like or whatever. It’s silly, you don’t have to listen to it.”

“I love it Michael, of course I want to. We can listen on the way back to the dorms,” Luke says, grinning. It makes the tension in Michael’s chest ease, to see how happy Luke is about the gift.

“Open mine!” Luke says, shoving the gold bag at Michael. Michael blinks, peeling back the tissue paper to see that it’s a scarf and gloves. Specifically, it’s what looks like a hand knitted scarf, deep blue and soft. There’s a matching set of deep blue gloves that look just as soft and warm. Michael holds them in his hands, looking up at Luke.

“Did you make these?”

“Just the scarf. It took me forever to get it just right. Knitting is really hard. But your scarf got ruined last month and then you keep losing your gloves so, I...I wanted to replace your scarf. And you can’t have one without the other.”

“You made me a scarf?”

“I thought it might be nice,” Luke mumbles, blushing. Michael surges forward, pulling Luke into a hug, kissing him on the cheek.

“Thank you. It’s...it’s perfect Luke, thank you.”

Luke blushes, mumbling out a  _ you’re welcome _ , returning Michael’s hug. Liz claps her hands, directing everyone to the kitchen to eat now that gifts are open. Michael puts his scarf and gloves back into the bag, gingerly placing the bag on the ground before standing up, letting Luke hold his hand as they walk to the kitchen.

It isn’t until they’re under the doorway and Ben and Jack are laughing at them, pointing up that Michael even realizes there’s mistletoe hanging there. They both look up, blushing when they realize it, looking at each other. 

“We don’t have to,” Michael says.

“No it’s tradition. You have to kiss for tradition,” Jack says, laughing. Luke blushes red, glaring at his brother.

“We don’t have to,” Michael says again, blushing a little thinking about it. 

“It’s fine. I mean, we’re dating. It’s not weird,” Luke says. Michael swallows. Luke leans into Michael’s space, cupping his cheeks in his hands.

“I’m going to kiss you, yeah?” He whispers. Michael nods, lets Luke close the gap between them.

Luke’s lips are soft and warm. It’s different from all the quick pecks they’ve had in the last week, Luke tilting his head to fit his lips to Michael’s. It’s perfect, Luke’s kiss everything Michael’s dreamed of, his thumbs pressed to Michael’s cheekbones as he rubs against them slightly. Luke pulls back, looking at Michael wide eyed, lips parted in a small “o” as he takes in Michael’s face.

Michael can’t do this, can’t breathe suddenly. It’s all too much, standing here under the mistletoe, listening to Jack and Ben laugh at him, Liz cooing. Looking at Luke, bright blue eyes and dimpled shy smile as he looks at Michael, like it’s normal for them to kiss, like this is just something they do all the time. Michael knows they’ve kissed before, but those were quick things, not like this, long and drawn out and full of  _ love _ . He’s staring at Michael like he’s the sun, like he’s Luke’s whole world and Michael can’t  _ do this. _ Can’t look at Luke, backlit by the soft glow of Christmas lights. Can’t pretend that this is real or fake or whatever it is, the lines blurry and hazy. It hurts Michael, desire caught in his throat, sad at the idea that this a joke, a lie, all  _ fake. _ That they’ll go back to school and go back to friends and roommates and Michael will have to pretend he doesn’t know what it feels like to wake up next to Luke, what it’s like to hold his hand, to  _ kiss him _ . 

“I...I have to go,” Michael says, turning around on his heel and rushing over to the glass door leading outside. He steps outside, taking a deep breath, trying to will himself not to start crying, not when Luke’s family is right there. Michael takes a few stuttering breaths, trying to force air back into his lungs, to stop the tears from falling.

Michael barely hears the door open, hears Luke’s soft footsteps as he comes out to meet Michael, stopping next to him.

“Fuck it’s cold,” He mumbles. Michael glances over to Luke, sees him pink cheeked, wearing just his sweater.

“Well I’m not giving you my jacket, I’m fucking cold too.”

Luke huffs a laugh. They lapse into silence staring out at the woods surrounding them. 

“Mikey, what happened in there? Did I do something wrong?”

“No Lu, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me. It’s always me. I fucked up.”

“How? Was it the kiss? I know we said we didn’t have to kiss in front of my family but the mistletoe was right there. I’m sorry I kissed you. It crossed a line and I shouldn’t have done that,” Luke says. He sounds oddly stiff, like he’s rehearsing something. Michael glances over at Luke, sees him staring straight ahead, arms curled around himself, sad expression on his face.

“You? What did you do Luke?”

“I mean, I’m the one who started all this,” Luke says, waving his arm around, “I forced you to pretend to date me. How selfish is that? I didn’t even ask what you wanted, I just assumed. I assumed you would help you because you always help me because you’re incredible and amazing. You’re  _ Michael _ . You’re so much more talented and funny and lovely and I just made you give up your holiday to help and it’s so stupid of me. And then I had to go and kiss you like who does that? Who does that without asking someone’s consent? That’s so stupid of me to just assume you’d be okay with that. I should have asked you instead of just like, forcing myself on you. Forcing my crush on you.”

Luke takes a breath, flushed red from either the cold or embarrassment and glancing away. 

Michael snaps his head around to look at Luke, wide eyed and shocked, “ _ What? _ ”

Luke glances at Michael, wide eyed and a little like a baby deer caught in the headlights, “What do you mean what? My crush on you.”

“ _ You _ have a crush on  _ me _ ?” Michael asks, clearly shocked and confused. He can’t imagine Luke, gorgeous, funny, talented Luke has a crush on him, Michael. Michael, who can’t go to sleep before 2:00am and yells at video games and can’t cook. Luke  _ likes  _ Michael.

“Yes? I thought it was obvious. I thought that was why you ran away. Because you were uncomfortable with me kissing you because you don’t like me? And I made it awkward by forcing you to and now you’re gonna break up with me and you won’t wanna be roommates anymore and I don’t know what I’ll do without you,” Luke keeps rambling, clearly caught up in his own head.

“Luke-”

“I mean, you’re like the only reason I remember to be a person sometimes and you remind me to drink water and to eat and I don’t know how to structure my days without you there.”

“ _ Luke _ -”

“Are we gonna have to divide up Calum and Ashton now? They both like you more than me and if they leave I won’t have any friends.”

“Luke for the love of God!” Michael shouts. Luke startles, looking over at Michael, mouth opened, clearly ready to argue with him again. Michael gets both hands on Luke’s face, pulls Luke to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Luke lets out a muffled noise of surprise at the contact, melting into the kiss slightly when he realizes that it’s not a joke, that Michael’s actually kissing him, and starts to kiss back. He tastes of chocolate and cinnamon, soft and warm.

Michael pulls back, taking in Luke’s wide eyed stare, curls falling gently around his face.

“It’s snowing,” Luke whispers.

“Hm?”

“You kissed me and it’s snowing and we’re at a cabin, pretending to be in love when we’re actually in love. You’ve turned me into a Hallmark movie.”

“Me? You’re the one who asked me to be your fake boyfriend. If anything, you’ve forced me into a Hallmark movie,” Michael says. Luke laughs, high pitched and a little breathless. Michael smiles, fond, leaning forward to press a kiss to Luke’s cheek, his nose, his lips.

“So, you like me?” Luke asks, glancing at Michael through his eyelashes. 

“Obviously. I am kissing you,” Michael says, rolling his eyes at Luke. 

“Well maybe you just want to be nice.”

“I think we passed just being nice when your mom insisted I be in the family photo for her to send to the whole family.”

Luke leans forward, thumping his head on Michael’s shoulder and groaning, “God that was so embarrassing I can’t believe she did that.”

“It was very cute. I mean, I put those photos as my lockscreen and homescreen too. I was worried you would see it and be upset at me.” 

“Upset over that? That’s adorable. I was worried she scared you.”

“If your brothers couldn’t scare me when they practically pushed me down ice skating, I doubt your mom is going to scare me.”

“ _ Still. _ Why on Earth would you like me?”

“Luke, come on. What are you talking about? You’re smart and witty and charming. I mean you sing, you play guitar, you’re studying sound engineering. I’ve never met anyone with your talent and drive. You’re this bright center of the Earth. Of course I would have a crush on you. I’ve spent this whole trip being worried that you would realize I had a crush on you and I would ruin the whole thing,” Michael says. Luke huffs, curling into Michael’s chest, snuggling in. It’s cute, relieving something in Michael’s chest, having Luke pressed close to him while it snows in front of them.

“You might be the best Christmas gift,” Luke says.

“Okay you fucking sap, don’t get mushy on me now. I can still break up with you.”

Luke laughs, loud hyena laugh, endearing and cute. Michael rolls his eyes, leaning down to press a kiss to Luke’s temple. 

“You wouldn’t dare breakup with me. Mum’s decided you’re part of the family. She would be so mad if you ruined the Christmas photos by breaking up with me.”

“I’ll just have to wait till the New Year then.”

Luke snorts, smacking Michael’s chest. Michael laughs, pulling Luke into another kiss. Luke hums softly into the kiss, tangling a hand into Michael’s hair and pulling him closer. It makes Michael soft and happy, thinking that he can enjoy this forever now, that Luke’s  _ his. _

Michael thinks they might stay out here forever like this, if not for Ben throwing open the door, hollering at the two of them to stop making out and come in for french toast and coffee. Luke pulls back, blushing from embarrassment at being caught.

“Guess we gotta go in now.”

“Hold on a minute. Your brother mentioned you play  _ I Must Be Dreaming _ for all your crushes. You’ve been playing me that song forever on the guitar.”

“Well I may have had a crush on you for a while.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I was worried you didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship if you didn’t like me. You’re too important to me.”

“God if we tell Calum or Ashton this they’re gonna call us dumb.”

“Well, they’re just as dumb as us. Why haven’t they made out yet? They’re in love.”

“We’ll get some mistletoe to use on them when we get back.”

Luke snorts, lacing his fingers with Michael. Michael pulls their hands up, kissing the back of Luke’s hand. Luke blushes, pulling them both inside to eat breakfast. 

It’s nice, getting to hold Luke’s hand, kiss him now, knowing it’s all real. Luke seems to have taken their new found dating status as an excuse to spend the afternoon sitting on Michael’s lap while they watch movies, snuggling in. Michael’s not opposed, taking every chance he can to press kisses to Luke’s cheeks, his neck, any part of him he can reach just to hear Luke giggle, see him smile brightly at the contact.

The rest of the break continues in much the same way. Luke takes every chance he has to cuddle in close to Michael, pressing kisses to his lips and holding his hands. It makes Michael warm, realizing that he has Luke all to himself now, for real. It eases something in him, knowing that it’s not a lie anymore, that he really is a part of Luke’s life, of his family. That when Liz calls him Luke’s boyfriend and presses a kiss to his temple on New Year’s Eve, it’s real. That when Luke laughs, presses a kiss to Michael’s lips at midnight, it’s not for show. 

“What do you want for New Years?” Luke asks, later that night, curled up on Michael’s chest.

“To pass my next semester. Finally learn how to make decent pasta sauce. A better apartment for next year. What about you?”

Luke hums, “I want us to get a dog.”

“Like now? While we’re in school.”

“Well when you put it like that.”

“We can get a dog. Let’s just wait till we graduate yeah?”

Luke huffs, “Fine. But I’m making you go to the shelter everyday until then.”

“Deal. But only if we get a cat too,” Michael says. Luke laughs, pressing a light kiss to Michael’s lips before snuggling back down.

Break wraps up and they head back to campus, with promises from Michael to visit the Hemmings family when he goes back to Australia for the summer. Not much changes in their dorm, except that Luke and Michael sleep in the same bed more often than not and when Luke rushes out of the apartment in the mornings, he presses a kiss to Michael’s lips while he grabs his coffee. The first thing Michael does when he gets back from class is kiss Luke and the last thing he does each night is kiss Luke. They hold hands in the line for coffee and walk each other to class and go on double dates with Calum and Ashton (something that neither of them will discuss outside of stating that they’re dating now). When Luke mentions looking for off campus apartments for the next year, Michael suggests they look for a one bedroom since they already share a bed and  _ it’s cheaper anyway _ and Luke rolls his eyes fondly and kisses Michael. 

Michael’s completely forgotten about all the photos Liz took of them until they get a package from Australia. It’s a collage of the photos of them on their trip, a Valentine’s Day gift from Liz. Luke grumbles in embarrassment at it, that his mum would print these photos out and frame them, but Michael finds it cute and endearing and makes it a point to put the collage up in the middle of the living room where everyone can see, despite Luke’s protests.

The semester ends and they head back to Australia to see their families, making plans to visit each other over the summer, so Luke can meet Michael’s parents, promising to call each other everyday. They do, calling and texting and Facetiming whenever they can, Luke rambling about his day to Michael, having music listening parties from their separate homes, watching movies. Luke visits Michael, requesting to see baby photos and listening to all of the embarrassing childhood stories that Michael’s parents share. Michael visits Luke’s family, demanding to see Luke’s baby photos and cooing while Luke hides in embarrassment. 

They move into their apartment in August, a small one bedroom that’s barely big enough for the two of them, but perfect anyway. The collage goes up on the wall for everyone to see when they enter the apartment, much to Luke’s embarrassment. They learn to cook, only setting the smoke alarm off on one occasion when they get “distracted” while making cookies and end up burning them to a crisp. Michael learns to stop playing video games till two in the morning and Luke learns to be more of a morning person. They stay in the shoebox apartment until Michael gets his first job working on coding from games, till Luke gets hired by a major record label. They move into a two bedroom apartment, using the second room for Luke’s guitars, for Michael to set up a computer for gaming, so they can spend time together especially since they don’t see each other as much during the day because of work. They grow up, get promoted, move out of the City and into a two bedroom house. They adopt a dog (Petunia) and then when Luke claims she’s lonely, they adopt two more dogs (South and Moose). Michael uses his old request of having a kitten to justify adopting a small grey cat and calling her Willow ( _ Come on Luke, like that plant _ ) and they move again into a house with a bigger yard and extra space for three dogs and a cat and two men with all their instruments and video games and all the pieces of their lives they’re accumulated over the years. 

Michael proposes on their eight year anniversary, over Christmas dinner and Luke smacks him because he was going to propose on New Year’s Eve and now Michael’s beat him to it. They get married in Australia on their “anniversary” in September that they told everyone else was their official anniversary date. They promise to love each other forever and Luke grins, laughing when Michael dips him, kissing him in front of everyone. They turn 30 and adopt a little girl, Olivia, and Michael learns how to have a regular daily schedule for once in his life, Luke turning into a morning person if it means he gets to wake up and braid their daughter’s hair every morning. The collage of their first Christmas still stays up on their wall, growing to include their wedding photos, their dogs, Olivia. It’s cheesy, watching their love grow throughout their home. They visit the cabin upstate one year for Christmas with Olivia, meeting Luke’s family there, taking pictures of her in the snow, sitting on Michael’s shoulders, Luke with his arms wrapped around them both grinning brightly. 

“You know, I’m grateful for that mistletoe,” Michael says, one night while they’re curled up in bed, Olivia sleeping curled up between the two of them. Luke looks up from the book he’s reading, glasses sliding a little down his nose at the movement. Michael snorts, leaning over to push them up. Luke wrinkles up this nose, trying to bat Michael away, only causing Michael to swoop in for a gentle kiss, trying not to jassle Olivia between them.

“Why are you grateful for it?”

“If it hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t kissed me, we never would have sorted ourselves out. We would have gone back to school and “broken up” and we wouldn’t be  _ here. _ I wouldn’t have you or Olivia or this life we’ve built.”

“You don’t think we would have figured it out on our own?”

“Luke, we were in love with each other for a year and a half and it took us fake dating to finally admit we liked each other. I don’t think we would have figured it out without the mistletoe.”

“I like to think we would have. Sure, the mistletoe pushed us to admit it to each other, but I don’t know. I’d like to think our 20 year old selves would have come back from holiday and finally talked about it. We kissed each other far too much on that trip to have not sat down and talked about it after,” Luke says, smiling fondly. 

Michael rolls his eyes, “I don’t know we were pretty stupid back then. We probably would have waited until the other was in a relationship and bitched to Calum or Ashton until one of them smacked up and told us to talk to the other.”

“So, you’re saying we’re a cheesy rom-com either way?”

“Oh shut up. At least the mistletoe way was cuter.”

“Hmm yes. Very Hallmark of us.”

“Yeah, if Hallmark let gay couples kiss on screen back then,” Michael says. Luke huffs and rolls his eyes.

“Alright, alright, Mr. Critical. I’m happy for the mistletoe too.”

Michael grins, kissing Luke again. “Merry Christmas Lu.”

“Merry Christmas Mikey,” Luke whispers against Michael’s lips, grinning as they trade another soft kiss. It might be terribly cliche, but Michael’s happy they decided to fake a relationship. After all, here they are now.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr!](https://pixiegrl.tumblr.com/) Talk to me about Stardust, 5sos, Luke Hemmings, or you can sidetrack me by giving me more fic ideas!


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